Week in Wrestling #8 - September 17, 2015
Wrestling News From the week of
September 11 - September 17, 2015
September 11 - September 17, 2015
WWE Ratings Problems
Over the past two weeks, the ratings for Raw were the two lowest for a non-major ratings impacted holiday (July 4th, Christmas Eve or New Year’s Eve) since 1997.
During the same period, the ratings for Smackdown, even though moved to Thursday from Friday, a far better night for television, were the two lowest since the move to Syfy. With the exception of some episodes that had massive local preemptions in the final days on MyNetwork TV, the numbers were far lower than any episodes in the history of the series.
Over the past two weeks, the ratings for Raw were the two lowest for a non-major ratings impacted holiday (July 4th, Christmas Eve or New Year’s Eve) since 1997.
During the same period, the ratings for Smackdown, even though moved to Thursday from Friday, a far better night for television, were the two lowest since the move to Syfy. With the exception of some episodes that had massive local preemptions in the final days on MyNetwork TV, the numbers were far lower than any episodes in the history of the series.
WWE Night of Champions
With no Lesnar or Undertaker this month, the show is built around Rollins defending both the WWE title against Sting and the U.S. title against John Cena. It’s an interesting dynamic.
Rollins and Cena were on the verge of having WWE’s match of the year last month until using Jon Stewart in the finish. Rollins and Sting has a more limited upside. But the world title almost always goes on last. So some decisions have to be made as far as how to put together the show so it doesn’t peak in the middle, particularly if the booking includes Cena winning the U.S. title and Sting not winning the world title (I don’t know the finishes, just if that is the way they are going then there is an argument for Cena to go on last).
If Sting is going to win, he should go on last. One of the problems is there are no ready-made opponents left for Rollins unless Bryan returns except a Lesnar rematch, more Cena matches, or Reigns, who in theory would be saved for next year. So Sting winning to stretch out the program is viable unless they’ve got a great idea up their sleeve.
To his credit, for being 56 years old and having worked in the business on-and-off for 30 years, he’s in great shape and moves around well, and Rollins is as good as anyone in the business inside the ring.
The rest of the show has Ryback vs. Owens for the IC title (which, given recent results and by all rights, Owens would make sense to win), Roman Reigns & Dean Ambrose and a mystery partner vs. The Wyatt Family of Bray Wyatt & Luke Harper & Braun Strowman, Nikki Bella vs. Charlotte for the Divas title with the title changing hands via disqualification, Dolph Ziggler vs. Rusev, The New Day vs. Dudleys for the tag title and the pre-show match with Neville & The Lucha Dragons vs. Stardust & The Ascension.
Notably not on the show is Sheamus, who has teased cashing in the briefcase of late.
Regarding the mystery partner, the storyline is that Randy Orton and Jimmy Uso were injured by The Wyatts. I like the idea of the mystery partner. If it’s not Orton, there are several names around. Daniel Bryan is ready to return if he gets medical clearance. If WWE will clear him, his being the guy would not be a letdown, but they aren’t going to ignore concussions given the lawsuit going on and cut corners on clearing him. Chris Jericho has been working arena shows regularly, and working at a high level.
Erick Rowan makes sense from a storyline reason, but would be a major disappointment. But he suffered torn biceps and had surgery, and November would be pushing his return and January is more likely. Dwayne Johnson would get a big reaction and I don’t know his schedule, but with the money it would cost to put him on the show, it makes no sense third from the top and even less sense not to have him do a match without advertising him in advance.
With no Lesnar or Undertaker this month, the show is built around Rollins defending both the WWE title against Sting and the U.S. title against John Cena. It’s an interesting dynamic.
Rollins and Cena were on the verge of having WWE’s match of the year last month until using Jon Stewart in the finish. Rollins and Sting has a more limited upside. But the world title almost always goes on last. So some decisions have to be made as far as how to put together the show so it doesn’t peak in the middle, particularly if the booking includes Cena winning the U.S. title and Sting not winning the world title (I don’t know the finishes, just if that is the way they are going then there is an argument for Cena to go on last).
If Sting is going to win, he should go on last. One of the problems is there are no ready-made opponents left for Rollins unless Bryan returns except a Lesnar rematch, more Cena matches, or Reigns, who in theory would be saved for next year. So Sting winning to stretch out the program is viable unless they’ve got a great idea up their sleeve.
To his credit, for being 56 years old and having worked in the business on-and-off for 30 years, he’s in great shape and moves around well, and Rollins is as good as anyone in the business inside the ring.
The rest of the show has Ryback vs. Owens for the IC title (which, given recent results and by all rights, Owens would make sense to win), Roman Reigns & Dean Ambrose and a mystery partner vs. The Wyatt Family of Bray Wyatt & Luke Harper & Braun Strowman, Nikki Bella vs. Charlotte for the Divas title with the title changing hands via disqualification, Dolph Ziggler vs. Rusev, The New Day vs. Dudleys for the tag title and the pre-show match with Neville & The Lucha Dragons vs. Stardust & The Ascension.
Notably not on the show is Sheamus, who has teased cashing in the briefcase of late.
Regarding the mystery partner, the storyline is that Randy Orton and Jimmy Uso were injured by The Wyatts. I like the idea of the mystery partner. If it’s not Orton, there are several names around. Daniel Bryan is ready to return if he gets medical clearance. If WWE will clear him, his being the guy would not be a letdown, but they aren’t going to ignore concussions given the lawsuit going on and cut corners on clearing him. Chris Jericho has been working arena shows regularly, and working at a high level.
Erick Rowan makes sense from a storyline reason, but would be a major disappointment. But he suffered torn biceps and had surgery, and November would be pushing his return and January is more likely. Dwayne Johnson would get a big reaction and I don’t know his schedule, but with the money it would cost to put him on the show, it makes no sense third from the top and even less sense not to have him do a match without advertising him in advance.
Hogan Blackballed
WWE talent, including those who are from his era and no longer wrestling but are still affiliated with the company, were told to not have any contact with Hulk Hogan. It’s been talked about the double standard, where they’ve immortalized Ultimate Warrior now, whitewashed his past, given him a statue, with the feeling he said things as bad if not worse and his was in public as opposed to private.
WWE talent, including those who are from his era and no longer wrestling but are still affiliated with the company, were told to not have any contact with Hulk Hogan. It’s been talked about the double standard, where they’ve immortalized Ultimate Warrior now, whitewashed his past, given him a statue, with the feeling he said things as bad if not worse and his was in public as opposed to private.
NXT
The 10/7 NXT Takeover special, also called Respect, is going to be headlined by Bayley vs. Banks in a 30 minute Iron Woman challenge match, plus the Dusty Rhodes tag team classic finals.
The teams that were on the tapings winning were Samoa Joe & Finn Balor and Rhyno & Baron Corbin, and Jason Jordan & Chad Gable won at the weekend house show in Gainesville, FL, so they’re all alive. Balor vs. Joe was the planned title program going forward, so they could do a split in the finals. This is the first what I’d call major show that WWE has ever put on where the women’s match was the real advertised main event. There had been a few instances of women in the main event position on Raw but it was never advertised that way
The 10/7 NXT Takeover special, also called Respect, is going to be headlined by Bayley vs. Banks in a 30 minute Iron Woman challenge match, plus the Dusty Rhodes tag team classic finals.
The teams that were on the tapings winning were Samoa Joe & Finn Balor and Rhyno & Baron Corbin, and Jason Jordan & Chad Gable won at the weekend house show in Gainesville, FL, so they’re all alive. Balor vs. Joe was the planned title program going forward, so they could do a split in the finals. This is the first what I’d call major show that WWE has ever put on where the women’s match was the real advertised main event. There had been a few instances of women in the main event position on Raw but it was never advertised that way
NXT Money Woes
There was an NXT talent meeting on 9/3 which had to do with how talent was not getting paid on the house for the successful NXT brand shows, including on a $200,000 plus gate in San Jose. The question was whether the talent would get paid based on the huge gate in Brooklyn the night before SummerSlam, which must have been high six-figures and would have been one of the bigger WWE gates of the year.
Canyon Ceman told talent that they would not be paid off the Brooklyn house, or paid extra for the upcoming U.K. tour, citing that overall NXT is a losing money proposition and they are all getting paid their guarantees even though the NXT business is heavily losing money, which is how it was always budgeted. It was noted that unlike main roster talent, who have to pay their road expenses, the company does cover road expenses for NXT talent when touring, and also covers their road expenses when they work WWE house shows (where they do get paid extra, equivalent to prelim money for other performers) and they also get road expenses for the first 90 days they are on the main roster.
The non full-time talent that works NXT shows like Samoa Joe and Rhyno does so on a per event guarantee as opposed to a percentage. Some of the talent took the idea of NXT being positioned as an alternative touring brand, which it really is, seriously and figured that they would be paid like an alternative brand, at least on the bigger grossing house shows. Essentially, it’s a third touring brand for the public, but for the talent, it’s still developmental
There was an NXT talent meeting on 9/3 which had to do with how talent was not getting paid on the house for the successful NXT brand shows, including on a $200,000 plus gate in San Jose. The question was whether the talent would get paid based on the huge gate in Brooklyn the night before SummerSlam, which must have been high six-figures and would have been one of the bigger WWE gates of the year.
Canyon Ceman told talent that they would not be paid off the Brooklyn house, or paid extra for the upcoming U.K. tour, citing that overall NXT is a losing money proposition and they are all getting paid their guarantees even though the NXT business is heavily losing money, which is how it was always budgeted. It was noted that unlike main roster talent, who have to pay their road expenses, the company does cover road expenses for NXT talent when touring, and also covers their road expenses when they work WWE house shows (where they do get paid extra, equivalent to prelim money for other performers) and they also get road expenses for the first 90 days they are on the main roster.
The non full-time talent that works NXT shows like Samoa Joe and Rhyno does so on a per event guarantee as opposed to a percentage. Some of the talent took the idea of NXT being positioned as an alternative touring brand, which it really is, seriously and figured that they would be paid like an alternative brand, at least on the bigger grossing house shows. Essentially, it’s a third touring brand for the public, but for the talent, it’s still developmental
Lana and Rusev
There is serious talk of the current storyline ending with Rusev & Lana back together, with the feeling that both characters ended up weaker apart. Wherever the decision goes for the angle will probably be slower than before given Lana not being allowed to do anything physically for four months
There is serious talk of the current storyline ending with Rusev & Lana back together, with the feeling that both characters ended up weaker apart. Wherever the decision goes for the angle will probably be slower than before given Lana not being allowed to do anything physically for four months
Naomi off Total Divas.... again.
For the new season of Total Divas that is currently filming, Naomi is back off the show, which she’s noted publicly, which also means her husband is off as well, and Amanda Saccomanno from Tough Enough has been signed and is replacing her in the cast as we had said looked to be the case last week.
For the new season of Total Divas that is currently filming, Naomi is back off the show, which she’s noted publicly, which also means her husband is off as well, and Amanda Saccomanno from Tough Enough has been signed and is replacing her in the cast as we had said looked to be the case last week.
Total Divas
The 9/29 episode of Total Divas will cover the Tyson Kidd injury. It’s going to be really interesting how this is portrayed, because the real story is that he’s very lucky to be alive and it’s a miracle that he’s not confined to a wheelchair with the injury he got, and I wonder if it will be allowed to be portrayed like that. Plus, the Samoa Joe vs. Kidd match was thrown together on a moment’s notice and Kidd didn’t have the chance to warm up enough before going out there
The 9/29 episode of Total Divas will cover the Tyson Kidd injury. It’s going to be really interesting how this is portrayed, because the real story is that he’s very lucky to be alive and it’s a miracle that he’s not confined to a wheelchair with the injury he got, and I wonder if it will be allowed to be portrayed like that. Plus, the Samoa Joe vs. Kidd match was thrown together on a moment’s notice and Kidd didn’t have the chance to warm up enough before going out there
Tough Enough
Both Josh Bredl, 24, and Sara Lee, 22 have made the move to Orlando and are training full-time. Both second place finishers, Saccomanno and Zamariah “ZZ” Loupe, were also signed. None of the other cast members have been signed.
Both Josh Bredl, 24, and Sara Lee, 22 have made the move to Orlando and are training full-time. Both second place finishers, Saccomanno and Zamariah “ZZ” Loupe, were also signed. None of the other cast members have been signed.
TNA Off of Destination America
Dixie Carter, in an interview with Sports Illustrated, said “We’re contracted to Destination America through the end of the year, and we are in discussions going on for 2016.”
The story stated Destination America would no longer carry the show in 2016. If that’s the case, that would mean Discovery and TNA made a deal, similar to what TNA did with Spike last year. Discovery made the decision to cut bait in May based on costs of the show and advertising costs, and the earliest out they had was at the end of September, which in a memo to Destination America employees, they stated was when they would cut bait.
TNA still has a number of international deals, and those deals seem to insure that no matter what happens with U.S. television, TNA will be around for a while, although it may be as a skeleton-like company. It was the better production, and having names like Hulk Hogan and Kurt Angle, that helped TNA getting international deals, which have eluded Lucha Underground and ROH (which has one overseas deal). In the U.K., TNA’s strongest market, ratings have dropped greatly this year, and after this year, there will be no more Kurt Angle.
TNA has already taped episodes of Impact that would air through 9/30. If there is television on 10/7 in the U.S. or not (and Carter did say there would be in the article), even after that point, they will continue to produce weekly television for their international markets.
Given they have no new shows, the idea last week is that the new shows will consist of cutting up matches taped the first few days of the last taping and using those matches to fill up time, unless they make a last minute tapings addition in October. Those matches were originally filmed to make up future three-hour monthly specials, those monthly concept PPVs in the U.S. that nobody buys, but TNA’s international TV deals call for monthly specials.
They had taped a ton of matches with no storylines on the first few days of the last taping that were originally for future monthly PPV shows. Right now the idea is to use them to fill whatever commitments they have for the next few months while they try and get a new U.S. deal.
We’re told that with the matches taped they could fill time through the India tour. Perhaps they can tape enough in India to fill time slots until the late January U.K. tour, and film there, which would take them on television through mid-March.
The company’s international deals right now are Challenge TV in the U.K. and Ireland, Sony Six in India (which also covers Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan and a few other countries), DMAX in Germany and Austria, Fight Network in Canada, G+ Sports in Japan, Supersport I Africa, MCS Sports which covers France, Belgium, Monaco and Luxembourg, Esporte Interativo in Brazil, Ego Total in Israel, Orange Sport in Poland, Sport TV in Portugal, Dubai Sports Channel in UAE and Saudi Arabia, Mio Sports 1 in Singapore and CNC 3 in Trinidad & Tobago.
One issue TNA may have when it comes to a new domestic deal is its track record. Last year, they were a show doing 1.3 million viewers per week, which is a solid number, although it means less than if it was another show, because it’s wrestling and the inherent ad rate problem. Now they are doing considerably less and are on a strong downward trajectory, plus they’ve lost many of their top stars. Executives who make decisions who follow the industry closely also have a negative opinion of the company. Several months ago, one executive with a station that has a history with pro wrestling that at least in theory could have been a viable option for TNA, noted to us that with how TNA handled the May crisis, not to mention the Vince Russo situation where they kept it a secret from Spike that he was with the company (while that was not the sole reason Spike dropped them, Spike did make the call almost immediately after that came out and it did play into it), the reaction was,”Who would want to do business with these people?”
Dixie Carter, in an interview with Sports Illustrated, said “We’re contracted to Destination America through the end of the year, and we are in discussions going on for 2016.”
The story stated Destination America would no longer carry the show in 2016. If that’s the case, that would mean Discovery and TNA made a deal, similar to what TNA did with Spike last year. Discovery made the decision to cut bait in May based on costs of the show and advertising costs, and the earliest out they had was at the end of September, which in a memo to Destination America employees, they stated was when they would cut bait.
TNA still has a number of international deals, and those deals seem to insure that no matter what happens with U.S. television, TNA will be around for a while, although it may be as a skeleton-like company. It was the better production, and having names like Hulk Hogan and Kurt Angle, that helped TNA getting international deals, which have eluded Lucha Underground and ROH (which has one overseas deal). In the U.K., TNA’s strongest market, ratings have dropped greatly this year, and after this year, there will be no more Kurt Angle.
TNA has already taped episodes of Impact that would air through 9/30. If there is television on 10/7 in the U.S. or not (and Carter did say there would be in the article), even after that point, they will continue to produce weekly television for their international markets.
Given they have no new shows, the idea last week is that the new shows will consist of cutting up matches taped the first few days of the last taping and using those matches to fill up time, unless they make a last minute tapings addition in October. Those matches were originally filmed to make up future three-hour monthly specials, those monthly concept PPVs in the U.S. that nobody buys, but TNA’s international TV deals call for monthly specials.
They had taped a ton of matches with no storylines on the first few days of the last taping that were originally for future monthly PPV shows. Right now the idea is to use them to fill whatever commitments they have for the next few months while they try and get a new U.S. deal.
We’re told that with the matches taped they could fill time through the India tour. Perhaps they can tape enough in India to fill time slots until the late January U.K. tour, and film there, which would take them on television through mid-March.
The company’s international deals right now are Challenge TV in the U.K. and Ireland, Sony Six in India (which also covers Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan and a few other countries), DMAX in Germany and Austria, Fight Network in Canada, G+ Sports in Japan, Supersport I Africa, MCS Sports which covers France, Belgium, Monaco and Luxembourg, Esporte Interativo in Brazil, Ego Total in Israel, Orange Sport in Poland, Sport TV in Portugal, Dubai Sports Channel in UAE and Saudi Arabia, Mio Sports 1 in Singapore and CNC 3 in Trinidad & Tobago.
One issue TNA may have when it comes to a new domestic deal is its track record. Last year, they were a show doing 1.3 million viewers per week, which is a solid number, although it means less than if it was another show, because it’s wrestling and the inherent ad rate problem. Now they are doing considerably less and are on a strong downward trajectory, plus they’ve lost many of their top stars. Executives who make decisions who follow the industry closely also have a negative opinion of the company. Several months ago, one executive with a station that has a history with pro wrestling that at least in theory could have been a viable option for TNA, noted to us that with how TNA handled the May crisis, not to mention the Vince Russo situation where they kept it a secret from Spike that he was with the company (while that was not the sole reason Spike dropped them, Spike did make the call almost immediately after that came out and it did play into it), the reaction was,”Who would want to do business with these people?”
TNA vs GFW
Sports Illustrated and PW Insider reported that part of the deal regarding Jeff Jarrett returning and doing the GFW angle is that he would sell or in some form give up his minority shares in the company in exchange for his company getting plugged on television and raising its profile. Jarrett confirmed to us that the story that part of the deal that resulted in his return was a deal where he would be divesting himself of his TNA ownership is accurate. Jarrett said about it that, “I’m thrilled.”
Jarrett was approached by TNA and when working things out, felt the TV exposure would help his brand, and his ownership in TNA really didn’t amount to anything since it’s not like the company is profitable. Jarrett making the deal was a strategic move that sources close to the situation believe has a good chance of paying off down the line, the key being the exposure of the GFW brand name not just in the U.S. but in international markets where he’s closer to making a deal in
Sports Illustrated and PW Insider reported that part of the deal regarding Jeff Jarrett returning and doing the GFW angle is that he would sell or in some form give up his minority shares in the company in exchange for his company getting plugged on television and raising its profile. Jarrett confirmed to us that the story that part of the deal that resulted in his return was a deal where he would be divesting himself of his TNA ownership is accurate. Jarrett said about it that, “I’m thrilled.”
Jarrett was approached by TNA and when working things out, felt the TV exposure would help his brand, and his ownership in TNA really didn’t amount to anything since it’s not like the company is profitable. Jarrett making the deal was a strategic move that sources close to the situation believe has a good chance of paying off down the line, the key being the exposure of the GFW brand name not just in the U.S. but in international markets where he’s closer to making a deal in